Hi, this sounds to me like you have lost the run capacitor for the dual blower/condenser fan motor and compressor. You need to shut power off before it causes more damage to this unit. This capacitor is charged up by voltage as far up as 370 volts to 440 volts to help start and keep the motors running. If it is open internally, or shorted they will not run. It is a run capacitor and not a start capacitor even though it does start the motors but the start winding will drop out and the run winding will keep them up to speed. If you are able to check for this, if you are mechanically inclined to do so, you may be able to replace just this capacitor for around $12 that's if the compressor hasn't locked up its rotor or you are not loosing the motor. The run capacitor will be the place to start your search for our solution for this problem. Getting to it is difficult as this is a window unit. You will need to excess the electrical section of the unit if you want to take this on? If so, kill power and it would be best to go in from the front side. You will need to remove grill, all knobs and the electrical section will be behind the control knobs such as fan speed, cool, and so on. It will be on the left side on this unit. You will need to remove a few screws to get into the wiring area, but once you are in just be careful not to pull any wiring from there connection points as it will be a tight area to work. This capacitor is more then likely a dual run cap, could be plastic in cased or metal. Some are round and 3 to 4" tall kinda looks like a small drink can that has wire terminals coming from the top, 3 in a row. Look for that even though it may have a different shape, they are easy to spot as it should be secured by a clamp to prevent it from moving. When you do locate it, look it over for any signs of oil leaking from it, swollen up or burned around the wire terminals. It will have markings on it to say the size it will be such as 5 uf x 35 uf x 370 volts, or higher depending on what the unit calls for, so look for this. Once you locate it and if you see any of these signs, it will need to be checked. If it looks normal, it will need to be checked for normal values to see if its working or not. If you own a digital electrical meter you can check the microfareds to see if they are with in limits. The uf number i was reffering to such as 5uf, 7.5, 10uf and so on. If not, make yourself a diagram of the wiring and wire colors of this run capacitor as it will say on top of it makings like this, C for common, herm for hermetic compressor, and fan for the fan. Draw and mark this out and you can take it to your appliance parts house and have it checked out for you to see if it is good or not. This is where you need to start as both motor and compressor start and run from this part and will not if it is bad or weak. Its not a big job to take it out, just tight places at times. If you do not feel like you are up for this, you will either need to call out a tech or remove the unit from window or wall and take it in to a appliance repair and parts house, or a/c repair shop and have them check for you. I would give it a shot if you can. Please let me know the out come of this as I would like to know. If the capacitor is good then you either have a problem internally with the compressor or the blower/condenser motor is going out. This capacitor must be checked first in any way.I will be out repairing a/c for the day as I am a C-20 a/c contractor and will check back when I get back in. I know we will have other techs here at Fixya to give you advice also when they see this post. But I will return to help in any way I can. I wish you the best on this and please keep me posted. Sincerely,Shastalaker7A/c, Heating & Refrigeration Contractor

1 Suggested Answer

Hi,
a 6ya expert can help you resolve that issue over the phone in a minute or two.
best thing about this new service is that you are never placed on hold and get to talk to real repairmen in the US.
the service is completely free and covers almost anything you can think of (from cars to computers, handyman, and even drones).
click here to download the app (for users in the US for now) and get all the help you need.goodluck!

Tell us some more! Your answer needs to include more details to help people.You can't post answers that contain an email address.Please enter a valid email address.The email address entered is already associated to an account.Login to postPlease use English characters only.

It sounds like the unit may be over charged. Make sure the outside coils are clean and you have plenty of airflow coming out of the top of the outside unit. What could be happening is, when the temps get higher outside, so do the pressures in the system. The compressor has a thermal overload protection that will kick the compressor off if it gets to hot, which if the compressor is over charged, it will work twice as hard, over heat and shut off. You would need a technician to come out and get the refrigerant charge back to normal. Another thing that could be happening is a weak or faulty capacitor, which is a small round or oval metal object, found in the electrical compartment on the unit. This are fairly simple to change out if your comfortable with electric. I've also had to put what's called a hard start kit on compressors with the same problem, new and old. The hard start basically gives it that extra boost of power to get it up and going. I would start with the refrigerant charge and go from there. The electrical "humming" sound that you hear unless you turn the breaker to the furnace off, is the contactor on the outside unit having a call for cooling. The 24 volts come from the furnace, to the outside unit, and pulls the contactor in to power the unit with the 220 volts supplied. It is normal and you don't have to worry about that at all. I hope some of this helps and good luck!

The humm you hear is the compressor. Turn your unit on and let it run for a couple minutes and grab the large pipe at the outdoor unit. If it's cold, your compressor is running. If your fan didn't turn on, there is a good chance your motor is fried. It could be your contactor, but I doubt it. The compressor and fan are wired through the same contactor, so when one comes on, so does the other. DO NOT run your unit for more than a minute or two with the outdoor fan not running. If you continue to run it, it's going to go out on high pressure and turn back on, and so on, and so on, until it fries the compressor.

It sounds like your unit is low on freon or the compressor is not kicking in. If the compressor kicks in you can hear it turn the unit on fan only or turn the thermostat off then turn the unit to demand cool you should hear a hum even vibration when the unit kicks in. If there is no audible hum ect... your compressor is probably not kicking in. The selector switch the temp switch the capacitor for the compressor or the compressor its self could be bad. good luck if you need to know how to test any of the above let us know

Be sure what you hear is not the fan instead of the compressor. Unplug the unit, wait 10 minutes, and plug it back in. Listen for the compressor to start up, or even listen for a faint "hum and click" sound. That would be the compressor trying to start.

not sure if it is a package system or a split but this is what you do.go outside where your outdoor machine is, after it has been shut off for awhile, and you should hear 2 distinct noises.1 is the outdoor fan, you should see it spinning.the other is a comppressor hum.some compressors have noise bags on them so listen closely thru the fan noise.if you hear no hum listen for a hum about every 2 to 5 minutes.if you hear this hum every so often, chances are you compressor is seized or stuck.the only thing to do there is get a tech and try a big boost to get it going.